“As always with these topics, we will talk about things when they are ready to be talked about and ready to be announced,” Heins said in January. “There are other constituents in the process that need to be involved -- if there would be anything.”

BlackBerry shares increased 14 percent to $14.90 at closing in New York after news of Lenovo's interest got out.

BlackBerry, formerly Research in Motion (RIM), has been trying to make a comeback after losing market share to the likes of Apple's iPhone and Android-powered mobile devices. Even government agencies, which traditionally used BlackBerry phones, have started using iOS and Android products.

BlackBerry introduced its latest line of software and devices -- BlackBerry 10 (or BB 10) -- in January of this year. At that time, it revealed the BlackBerry Z10 and the Q10 phones.

The Z10 finally came to the U.S. today as AT&T begins its presale for $199 (with a two-year contract). The phone actually ships March 22.

It remains to be seen whether BB10 will save BlackBerry, but Heins seems optimistic. He was recently quoted saying that Z10 sales in Europe were "encouraging."

I agree. Thinkpads and Blackberries already go very well together in the corporate sector. They just have to keep the OS up to date, streamlined, useful and secure. Imagine a Blackberry with the case quality of a Thinkpad.. of course a roll cage probably wouldn't be do-able.

"Thinkpads and Blackberries already go very well together in the corporate sector. They just have to keep the OS up to date, streamlined, useful and secure. Imagine a Blackberry with the case quality of a Thinkpad."

Put in a decent size screen, 4.7-5.5 inches and I'd buy that right now today. TAKE MY MONEY!!!

It wasn't the Blackberry units themselves which made them popular with the corporate sector. It was that RIM fully supported Microsoft's Exchange server (corporate email) on Blackberries. So companies could give employees email access via Blackberries, while still maintaining all their corporate security requirements (e.g. remotely wipe all corporate emails from a device which was lost or stolen).

Unfortunately for RIM, they squandered that advantage and didn't improve the base product quickly enough to keep up with iPhones and Android phones. Exchange support is now available on both, with full security support on its way last I checked, and you have to figure Microsoft will give Windows 8 phones full Exchange support. At which point there's no compelling reason for a company to pick Blackberry over another phone.